The freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1886-18??, 1887-02-09
LETTER FROM KANSAS.
GALEsBURG, Ks, Jan. 25, 1887.

Inc advantages anu Sr0aG DleSS.
ings of Prohibition in our great
and growing State are seen in its
practical workings. 1t not only
closes up the open saloon, but
turns the money spent there to le-
gitimare trade; and instead of it
being spent for that which destroys
the man, and brings sorrow and
shame, and misery and suffering,
and disgrace and beggary, into the
drunkard's howell, called home, it
brings joy and comfort, and plenty
and happiness. High license, tax
es, nor any other system of COM
promise can do this. Moral suasion
may have its influence, and its adj
vocates may claim its advantages :;
but it leaves the gilded saloon
open to allure the youth to degra-
dation, woe, and ruin. 1t makes
the State a party to the crimes COM
mitted by drunkenness-and nine
tenths of the crimes may be traced
directly or indirectly to this. Ev-
cry dollar from taxes or license is
blood money, and somebody will
have to answer for it. Prohibition
alone, meets the case, and to it we
are coming most certainly.
But | started out to send you an
extract or two, showing what are
the practical workings of Prohibi-
ton here, and the wonderful prog
ress being made in the mind of
the public in favor of it. Inregard
to its practical workings and
beneficial results in Atchison, one
of the last strongholds of the infer
nal traffic, the Champion says:
"The closing of the saloons brings
increased sale and prosperity to the
men who are selling groceries, dry
goods, clothing, furniture, etc. The
earning power of Atchison is as
great now as it was before the sa-
looms were closed. The mills and
factories, the railroads, the indus
trial establishments of every de-
scription, earn just as much money
as they ever did, but the men who
earn the money, instead of spend
ing it in the saloons, buy more
groceries, more dry goods, more
clothing, and other articles for
their homes and their families.
Bills are paid more promptly than
they used to be. There is less
drunkenness and more prosperity.
The receipts of the police Court
have dwindled to almost nothing,
but there are more happy wives
and smiling children in the homes
on the hillside. Every sensible,
observing and fair-minded man In
the city is beginning to realize
these facts"
The following is from our Cover
nor, in his annual message to the
Legislature now in session:
1.-THE public sentiment of Kansas
is overwhelmingly against the liz.
uor traffic. Thousands of men
who few years ago opposed Prohi-
bition, or doubted whether it was
the best method of dealing with
the liquor traffic, have seen and
frankly ACKNOWLEDGED its benefcent
results and its practical success.
The temptations with which the
saloon allured the youth Of the
land to disgrace and destruction !;
the appetite for liquor, bred and
nurtured within its walls by the
treating custom; the vice, crime,
poverty, suffering and sorrow, of
which it is always the fruitful
source-all these evil results of the
open saloon have been abolished in
nearly every city and town OF
Kansas. There is not an observ-
ing man in the State who does
not know that a great reform has
been accomplished in Kansas by
Prohibition.
Such are the opinions of our lead
Ing representative men, and they
but herald the sentiments and con-
victions of our most observing and
thinking citizens.
This State is under Republican
control. Prohibition has been one
of the leading planks in their plat
form since its adoption in 1881,
while anti-prohibiton and re-sub.